Brian and Theresa- Watching the 4th of July fireworks on a rooftop
in Williamsburg

Not being with the bus

Miles Traveled Today

Total Miles Traveled

Miles Theresa Drove

Weather

0

Stratus- 855
Bus- 6094
Total- 6949

0
(1320 total)

sunny, hot, muggy

Price of Gas
(average per gallon)

Wildlife

Night's Lodging

Where this Page was Uploaded

no fillup

Colorful cows, two birds, dogs, and a bunny

Michael & Cody's
New York City

Bass Harbor Campground
Bass Harbor, ME

Daily Narrative
A pretty amazing day to end up in New York City. The Fourth of July
celebration New York arranged for itself involved both a parade of "Tall
Ships" and a colossal fireworks show. The day began about 9:00 and
we headed to an outdoor cafe for brunch. Competition for "brunch"
customers in New York is apparently very competitive, and our brunch experience
involved very tattooed waitresses, edgy customers and the smell of subterranean
New York wafting through the air. It was hard to know which of these
elements was part of the competition. We headed from there to the
West Village rooftop of an acquaintance of Michael's who may soon be the
next Jerry Seinfeld (this may actually be the case...we'll let you know)
to watch the "Tall Ships". "Tall Ships", it turns out, are very large
sailboats, generally old and and generally military-related from all over
the world. It was a very big deal and President Clinton was flitting
about. There were somewhere in the neighborhood of three hundred
of these ships parading back and forth in the Hudson River, a pretty awesome
thing to look at. Like good Alaskans, however, Brian and Theresa
kept looking the wrong way, at the New York skyline. After the regatta
(well maybe it wasn't really, but it seemed like a "regatta" to Brian),
we had a little upscale West Village lunch and began our way to the less
upscale neighborhood of Williamsburg, in Brooklyn, to watch the evening's
fireworks. On the way, we stopped and looked at Michael and Cody's
new pet, a bird called a caique. Michael and Cody, being well adjusted
New Yorkers, have appropriately sized pets in their apartment, two birds
and one rabbit. We took a train under the East River and popped up
in Williamsburg, meeting another slew of friendly New Yorkers, this time
waiter/waitresses (actor/actresses), musicians, and a few who do "computer
stuff". The actual definition of "computer stuff" by Michael (who
also pays his rent this way) and his friends is kept purposefully vague,
but seems to involve web design, troubleshooting and networking.
We eventually wedged ourselves onto a rooftop with about three hundred
other New Yorkers and watched the most amazing fireworks we are likely
to ever see. Even more amazing is that the exact same show was taking
place simultaneously on six or seven barges around Manhattan. Completely
over-stimulated for a couple of country folk, we finally caught the train
back to the East Village with Michael and Cody and called it a very long
day. Too cool.

Daily Pictures

The bus wakes up in front of the Autohaus in Ellsworth,
Maine

Brian & Theresa wake in Michael and Cody's apartment on
the second floor of this East Village apartment building

Back in Thompkins Square, we spot a New York cow

Iggy Pop used to live here, before the Village became gentrified
and he moved to Florida

Michael coaches Brian and Theresa on looking like a New Yorker
at an outdoor cafe

After brunch we caught an authentic New York cab to West Greenwich
Village to see the "Tall Ships"

Two tall ships pass in the day

An authentic New York street

New York seems to be all about filling the space. In this
case, the block grew up around the church